Sunday, December 28, 2008

Waiting [Update]

A few days ago, she and a group trying to get humanitarian aid into Gaza were stuck waiting for a way in. They had supplies, including things like medicines that needed refrigeration, things that could not wait.

The blockade was lifted on Friday. Last we heard from her in email, she said: "I will be at the border here, on one side or the other, for another few days, and then I am going home. I have a couple articles to write, and a sick cat to take care of."

Then the airstrikes started.

It's not unusual for us to hear nothing from her for weeks at a time. No idea if she was actually inside Gaza, or where she was, when the rockets started falling, but if any readers are inclined toward prayers, positive energy, or anything like that, I'm sure hoping she and her group are OK. The internet is a weird, weird thing. You find yourself caring about people you never met.

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UPDATE:

In my inbox this morning (Tuesday, 12/30):

"Hello to all,

I am still at the border as things have gotten rather complicated. The humanitarian aid is being allowed in sporadically and there are complex and often confrontational negotiations involved, and that is one thing I am fairly good at."

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So her group isn't in yet. I had pictured the aid groups as swarming in immediately when the ban was lifted, but it seems that it doesn't work that way. Still keeping my fingers crossed, for her work's success and for safety.

Incidentally, my experience in the Irish community was that the people who actually live in these areas are not as impacted as you might think. The cameras rush to the points of impact, the rest of the community goes on quite normally. You were in far more danger of being mugged in New York or Detroit than you ever were of being blown up in Belfast. And, even when the going gets truly tough, there is a pragmatism that gets people through. I asked a fellow who had just returned from the North at the worst of times how dangerous it was and he said, "Oh, there's no danger at t'all, so long's you know where you going and get there a'fore dark."

In short, either your friend is in no danger, or she's dealing with it matter-of-factly.